An introduction about how I came to meditation, followed by a description of the characteristics and function of mindfulness as a tool for exploration and insight.
The vipassana retreat form encourages a particular way of learning about ourselves. How can we best use the conditions of this retreat form - silence, solitude, and simplicity - as vehicles for awakening.
The talk includes stories about learning generosity through giving to monks and nuns during the daily dawn walk (pindapad) in Thailand … that is, eeing how this opens a logjam in the heart and one experiences the sheer joy of giving. This talk also outlines and gives examples of the different kinds of giving as listed in AN 8.31 and 8.33.
The practice of Dana (generosity) as a foundation for insight includes an exploration of the concept of merit sharing the power and goodness that arises from out practice.
Tonight James finishes his series on the Faith Mind by the 3rd Zen Patriarch of China. One of the most meaningful lines in this section is:
”To live in this (highest) realization is to be without anxiety about non-perfection.”
Cultivating that attitude is a key to freedom. To let ourselves be perfectly imperfect.
